Reps chide NIMASA for extra-budgetary spending, low remittances of IGR

JONAS EZIEKE, Abuja

The House of Representatives Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration has chided the Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency NIMASA for extra-budgetary spending and  for the low remittance of its Internally Generated Revenue IGR to the federal government saying that it is running fowl of its enabling laws for continued existence

Chairman of the House Committee Hon.Kadijah Ibrahim gave the verdict during the 2025 Budget Defense and the 2024 budget review by the agency at the National Assembly in Abuja.

The lawmaker however said that the members of the House Committee would ensure effective oversight of the agency through constant visits to the corporate headquarters and other offices of the agency.

The lawmakers queried why the agency spent the N370 billion generated as IGR in 2024 whereas it is required to remit 50 percentage of the fund into the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the government.

The agency had budgeted N774.6 billion as its 2025 Budget and projected N467.4 billion as gross revenue for the new fiscal year 2025.

The  Executive Director of Finance and Administration of the agency Hon.Chudi Offordile who represented the Director-General DG of the agency at the budget session had said that N467.4 billion had been released to the agency in its 2024 budget representing 103% of the budgeted funds.

He further stated that the agency had generated approximately N370 billion in the 2024 budget while the sum of N467.4 was approved by the National Assembly for the agency

Notwithstanding, the House Committee approved the N774.06 billion as 2025 Budget earmarked by the agency for the recurrent, overhead and capital expenditures for the fiscal year.

At the budget session, the Deputy Chairman of the Committee Hon Alphonsus Ududoh had queried why the N200 billion approved for NIMASA for some key projects of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria  Oron has not been released for the institution by the agency.

Some other lawmakers like Hon Billy Osawaru (Edo, APC), Hon. Ukpnoggido Emmanuel (Akwa-Ibom,APC) and Hon Rodeney Ambaiowei (Bayelsa, PDP) also raised issues of low remittance of revenue to the federal government by the agency.

Osawaru and some other lawmakers at the budget session had posited that there were some over-bloated figures in the contract sum for projects executed by the agency and called for effective oversight of these projects as presented in the budget.